Glazfell
The Glazfell is the home of the Daan dynasty and the capital region of the Glazfelli Hegemony. Geography The Glazfell is a land defined not by its vistas and its cities, but its dangers. Even its name comes from an old quote, uttered by its discoverer many long years ago: "Ice sheets glaze the steep slopes, and fell creatures stalk within the snowstorms. We should take care." Indeed, the explorer who uttered this simple statement was correct on all counts. To most humanoids, the Glazfell is a frozen wasteland teeming with dangerous beasts, deadly storms, and not nearly enough mineral wealth to justify the danger. Only the very hardiest trees grow there, for the permafrost often goes down to bedrock, and ice sheets cover nearly every available inch of space. Only the mountains are spared the worst of the ice, but even there the snow and hoarfrost encroach on even the most fervently warmed place. This land is forsaken by the Lord of Fire, or so the tales say, and thus its name was set in stone and frozen there forevermore. Notable Terrain Features Hidden high upon Mount Etta, there is an ancient cave, Drake's Hollow, devoid of life. However, there are clear signs of habitation from forever ago, including scratch marks from a beast larger than any known, and an ancient sheet of ice bearing a curious imprint: One that resembles the profile of some great serpent with the wings of a bat. No one has ever witnessed such a beast, but those who have seen the evidence of its existence have taken to calling it "Uhyre Drakon", meaning what amounts to "Huge Serpent". In the heartlands of the Glazfell, nestled between two low mountains, there is a place where the glaciers meet and have driven each other downward, resulting in a sheer drop hundreds of meters into certain doom, known as the Eye of Yphine. Nevertheless, the Berapi are driven to survive in the harshest of conditions, and stairways have been carved out of the ice to allow access. The caverns revealed by the bizarre tectonic-like reaction are breathtaking in their beauty, containing rare liquid water and softly lit by the crystals known as the Tears of Yphine. This is considered a holy site, and yet the tears are mined for their value, which perhaps helps to illustrate how faith and industriousness go hand in hand for the Frosten. The Bronze Citadel is ancient, unknown, and sealed tight. The walls are forged from solid bronze, and attempts to mine one's way through have revealed that there is a layer of what looks to be an unknown, more or less indestructible alloy of adamantine behind that. None have managed to climb the perfectly smooth walls, and all attempts to scale it using pitons have been met with gruesome death, whether by falling or consumption by the enormous spiderlike monsters that infest the upper reaches. Flying high above the fortress is a flag that still blows in the wind despite being nothing but tatters and hoar. No one knows what lies beyond the Mighty Gates of this vast Citadel, and some have theorized that this is perhaps for the best. People The Glazfell is inhabited mainly by Frosten Berapi, distant cousins of the Iztli Berapi from Gunung. Their skins come in shades from the palest white to teal to a moderate blue, and pale, slightly glowing streaks of white show upon their bodies where veins and arteries come close to the surface. Their flesh is cold to the touch, thicker than that of most other humanoids, and hairless excepting the tops of their heads. What might be surprising to some is that they are warm-blooded mammals. Their flesh is cold to the touch not because they are made of ice or any such nonsense, but because they absorb and store heat much more efficiently than any other humanoid. There's almost certainly some magical influence here, though, since this trait seems to casually disregard thermodynamics. At any rate, their unique traits grant them an unparallelled ability to survive the harsh Glazfell winters, though they come with some costs as well: Most of them are very uncomfortable in warmer environs, where their lack of efficient heat dispersal is a severe handicap. Refrigeration technology has largely alleviated this concern, luckily. Culture Common stereotypes of Frosten include the ideas that they are emotionless (or at least very stoic), often brutish, and overly regimented. All of these are to some degree true, though obviously there is significant variation from person to person. Life in the Glazfell is dangerous, and all people who live there must be strong, careful, and organized to survive. Frosten are often quiet and guarded because conditions are harsh and opening one's mouth for too long is a good way to lose body heat. Those who go out on their own usually experience a swift death via hypothermia, frostbite, jagged stone, or horrible ice monster. Finally, those who survive have to be a little bit brutish just to take down some of the giant creatures of the snow that constantly threaten the Glazfell. Life is hard, and there isn't much room for the weak. Beyond that, Glazfell is a civilization like any other and boasts many subcultures within its population. Its government is more or less feudal, with the ruling house cultivating a balance of power between his or her Dukes in order to prevent the possibility of losing that status. While the regional Duchies are powerful, however, they are fully subservient to the ruling house and distinct from the Vassal Grand Duchies in that they lack internal autonomy. Politically and economically, the Glazfelli Heartlands are effectively one entity despite cultural differences from region to region. History The Ancient Histories of the Glazfell are steeped in myth, but nobody seems to agree on what, precisely. The only idea that seems halfway consistent is that something existed here that defied the Lord of Fire and was smote for it, its fire being taken away and the land left to be consumed by ice. The histories started up again in the year 315, with the first appearance of the Frosten Berapi upon the eastern borders. Finding the land to be suitable for them, they quickly expanded and brought down a crusade of righteous wrath down upon the great snow-striding beasts that threatened them! Blood was met with blood, and blood upon the snow paid the price for their Kingdom. The Frosten managed to thrive, and soon enough they moved westward, intent on more conquest. However, this plan was doomed to failure when their leader of the time, in perhaps the most impressive display of divine conversion and naturalization of a new religion ever recorded, spontaneously adopted the worship of Yphine after a single war conference with the Catfolk of Sycia. There was a short civil war in the Glazfell between the devout followers of the old spirits and the new worshippers of the Frost Goddess, and the Frosten grew more and more insular as the years passed by. Finally, though the toll had been bloody, the rebellion had been crushed and the worship of Yphine was forced into law. Finally, after many years of isolation and war, the Frosten are rebuilding, putting themselves back together, and ready to enter the world at large. Since then, Glazfell has risen from a single region at the edges of known civilization into a dominant power of the Northeast, similar in scale to the great Hurosha and Salterri nations. Resources As harsh and dangerous as the Glazfell is, it is rich in mineral resources, Copper and Tin mines likely being the most practical. These supplies, while they have uses on their own, are usually used to make Bronze armor and weapons. However, there are other secrets buried deep, with the most secret and special of all being the Tears of Yphine. Nobody is quite sure where these crystals came from, though legend holds that they are in fact Yphine's frozen tears. They form naturally in an unknown manner in a few mines toward the center of the Glazfell, where the monsters are the very thickest, but for many they are worth the risk. These crystals are usually very small, roughly the size of the average human fingernail, but specimens have been seen in sizes as large as an Orc. They glow softly with some internal light, and they feel quite cold no matter the circumstances. In many cases they are used to keep things cool in warmer climates where normal ice would simply melt, but many believe that they carry special potency that could be alchemically unlocked, if only it were known how. The final major resources of the Glazfell are the flesh and blood of the Great Snow Creatures that so often pose a threat to Frosten villages and cities. They are formidable indeed, but the Frosten have yet to encounter one that a well-coordinated team of hunters could not kill. The meat is reportedly delicious. The Glazfell is, perhaps unsurprisingly, very poor in terms of agriculture, as can be expected when the majority of the land is snow, ice, and permafrost. The Frosten rely on outside trade for this, as meat on its own does not make an excellent diet. Religion The Frosten fervently worship the Frost Goddess Yphine, and pilgrimages to Sycia where the religion's head resides have become fairly common as of late. They consider themselves blessed by Yphine in much the same way as many of the Berapi in Gunung consider themselves blessed by the Lord of Fire, and offer reverence in trade for the gifts that allow them to survive so well in these frozen lands. Other religions are acceptable to a limited degree, though they are less accepted and more "tolerated" under normal circumstances. Adherents of heretical or heathen faiths are not punished by death unless their practices violate more severe laws, but they are stripped of most privileges and levied heavy fines and taxes just for being there. Further, public religious displays (along with true temples and shrines) are only permitted for worshippers of Yphine, forcing any others to keep their worship more or less in their own home. References http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17512176&postcount=2 Category:Regions Category:Capital Regions Category:Regions of Telluris Category:Capital Regions of Telluris